Worcester health board plan hits resistance

Thursday

Mar 6, 2014 at 9:03 PMMar 6, 2014 at 9:33 PM

By Thomas Caywood TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER — A proposal to restore the Board of Health's regulatory powers will go to City Council for approval Tuesday over the objections of Councilor-at-Large Michael T. Gaffney, who has argued the plan would usurp authority from the council.

The Public Health and Human Services Committee voted Thursday afternoon to send the matter to the full council for a vote. If approved next week, the city would then seek special state legislation to implement the changes.

As it stands, the Board of Health is only an advisory panel with no power to set public health policy or take action in a public health emergency such as a disease outbreak. The city's public health powers instead rest with the appointed commissioner of public health.

The proposed changes would bring Worcester in line with most other cities and towns in Massachusetts by shifting regulatory power from a single commissioner to a five-member board, said Derek S. Brindisi, the director of the city Division of Public Health.

The proposed Board of Health would have a medical director, a physician, to advise it and to take emergency action in the event of a public health crisis in which a board meeting couldn't be convened in time. A chief executive officer would implement board policy and have emergency powers in the event the medical director was unavailable during a crisis.

While several public health professionals, city officials and members of the public voiced support for the plan at Wednesday's committee hearing, Mr. Gaffney advanced several arguments against proceeding.

For one, Mr. Gaffney said he considers the proposed structure less accountable to the City Council than the current one.

Mr. Brindisi countered that under the current structure, a commissioner of public health could sit in his or her office all day promulgating regulations without any debate or input from the advisory board, let alone the public.

Mr. Gaffney questioned what he called recent changes in the proposal that would give the chief executive officer emergency powers in certain circumstances. Mr. Gaffney also noted comments from members of the public and others at the hearing praising the work of the current board.

"If the Board of Health is doing a good job, why do we need to change the structure?" he asked.

City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. fielded that one, saying the advisory board did well engaging the community, building partnerships and working toward regionalization of public health services.

But Mr. Augustus said a professional board with regulatory powers is needed to alleviate health disparities and address other heath problems in the city.

"We have a lot of work to do to get our community where it needs to be," Mr. Augustus said.

Mr. Gaffney appeared poised to continue taking issue with aspects of the proposal, but a clearly frustrated District 2 Councilor Philip P. Palmieri stepped in and called for a committee vote. He and District 4 Councilor Sarai Rivera, the chairwoman, voted to send the measure to the full council.